The prologue of the text describes two figures who cry out to each other across the Bering strait: the wandering Jew and Hérodiade, his sister. Hérodiade's descendants are also the descendants of Marius de Rennepont, persecuted under Louis XIV by the Jesuits, and the ancient Wanderer and his sister are condemned to travel the earth until the entire Rennepont family has died out.

ue was driven into exile after Louis Napoleon overthrew the Constitutional Government in a coup d'etat and had himself officially proclaimed Emperor Napoleon III. The author of "The Wandering Jew" died in banishment five years later.

Book I.

Part First.--The Transgression. Prologue.--The Lands End of the World. I. Morok II. The Travellers III. The Arrival IV. Morok and Dagobert V. Rose and Blanche VI. The Secret VII. The Traveller VIII. Extracts from General Simon's Diary IX. The Cages X. The Surprise XI. Jovial and Death XII. The Burgomaster XIII. The Judgment XIV. The Decision XV. The Despatches XVI. The Orders